The cargo box of a pickup truck is often utilized to transport various sized articles to a particularly location such as a work site or a home. For instance, bulky construction panels, various sized pieces of wood, tools and the like may all require storage and transportation in a single pickup truck cargo box. Improper storage can result in damage of any of the various material.
One particular problem involving storage and transportation of large construction panels, such as 4.times.8 wallboard, is that the floors, or beds, of standard sized pickup trucks can not accommodate the panels due to the wheel wells which protrude into the cargo box. This problem has been addressed in a variety of patents, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,156 issued to Richard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,898 issued to Ulics, U.S. Pat. No. 4,394,100 issued to Sperlich, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,149 issued to Rye. The Richard patent discloses the use of clamps to support load bearing beams which span the cargo box at an elevation above the wheel wells. The Ulics and Sperlich patents disclose cargo box configurations having channels or recesses for supporting beams or shelves above the wheel wells, and the Rye patent discloses a pickup truck bed liner having recesses for supporting beams above the wheel wells.
Other problems are also experienced in storing and transporting items in the cargo box of a pickup truck, particularly when the type, size and quantity of each item varies from day to day, or project to project. For instance, sometimes the space on the raised shelf needs to be maximized, and sometimes the space under the shelf needs to be maximized. On some occasions more than one type of large panel may be required to be stored on a shelf, and, if only a single shelf is provided, unloading of one type of material may be difficult because it may have other material stacked on it. Sometimes side planks for extending the height of the cargo box sidewalls may be beneficial; while other times the side planks may create unnecessary obstacles. Also, on some occasions, tool boxes, or chests, may provide a secure manner to store and transport tools; while on other occasions the space taken up by the tool chest could be better used in storing large panels.
Although various ones of the above-referenced pickup truck cargo box shelving systems may be satisfactory for their intended purposes, there is a need for an improved storage system which is capable of being assembled in a variety of different configurations to accommodate the given storage requirements provided by a particular haul and which is capable of being readily reconfigured to accommodate different storage requirements provided by other hauls. Such a versatile shelving and storage system should consist of only a few components which are inexpensive to manufacture and which are easy to handle, install and remove.